Life-Changing Photographs

Buddhist Monk

In 1963 a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk set himself on fire in protest of the persecution of Buddhists by the government of South Vietnam. Malcolm Browne was there to photograph it, and received a Pulitzer Prize for it. The body of the monk was re-cremated, however his heart remained intact. Buddhists saw this as a symbol of compassion, and saw in him a bodhisattva (enlightenment-being), which made an even bigger impact on the public.